


Let's Do Pizza

by Ultra



Category: Alice (2009)
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, F/M, Family, Family Secrets, Magic Mirrors, Post-Series, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Wonderland
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-23 01:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hatter decided he couldn't live without Alice, and she was thrilled when he followed her home - but how did that happen and what happened next? This story shall explain ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1 of 5

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mizzy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mizzy/gifts).



> I had the idea for this fic quite a while ago, around about the second time I watched ‘Alice’. My latest rewatch, and huge encouragement from a good friend, has led to the actual writing and posting of the fic. Therefore, this story is dedicated to the wonder that is Mizzy - I really hope it lives up to her expectations!

Hatter had quite decided by now that he was an idiot. At first the term seemed a little strong, but the more time he had to think about it, the more he decided such a word suited him. There was more than one reason for his deduction, and it all started with a beautiful girl in a very wet dress.

What sort of fool was he to play personal protection and guide through Wonderland to an Oyster like her? She had come looking for her boyfriend, it was all doomed from the beginning, and yet Hatter had allowed his head to be turned. It wasn’t as if she was _the_ Alice, the one from the legend, she would be far too old by now. Besides that Alice had been blonde, and didn’t have the fire in her eyes that Alice Hamilton possessed, the new Alice, _his_ Alice.

That was another reason for his new idiot status, Hatter decided. He had allowed himself to believe that this new Alice belonged to him, that when the final moment came, she would choose him over all others. How blind and foolish, how completely mad! In the end, there was a king professing love for her, offering her a place at his side to rule all of Wonderland. Even if such a thing didn’t appeal, Alice had a home to go to, a place she belonged beyond the looking glass. With such choices at these at hand, Hatter came a lowly and unthought of third.

So, Hatter had watched Alice take her tumble through the looking glass and whispered a goodbye he hoped didn’t have to mean forever. She talked of visits, but it was not to be. She wouldn’t really want him in her world and she would never want to return to Wonderland, he was sure.

It would take a week of melancholy, sat alone in his wrecked tea shop, to realise he had never asked. Never once had Hatter suggested that Alice might want to stay in the new Wonderland with him and make a life. He never even asked if he might accompany her back to where she came from. He was such a bloody coward, and it was unbearable to realise it, so much so Hatter forcibly banged his head on the table to rid himself of the thought. He was a fully-fledged idiot, and no mistake.

Another week came and went. Hatter believed his chance was lost and so drowned himself in drinks far stronger than the tea he favoured so long. Nothing from a bottle ever made him feel as Alice Hamilton had. She could stir more emotions in him with a single look than a whole vat of any wonder could evoke. No woman from Wonderland had ever achieved such a goal, and never could for Hatter, he was certain. Alice was singular, impossible, improbable, and everything to him.

“I’m an idiot,” he repeated to himself for what might’ve been the hundredth time or more.

Hatter leaned back in his chair so far that it almost tipped over entirely and wondered what his life would be now. The tea shop was destroyed, the whole world changing around him. It was for the best, no doubt, but he’d had a place amongst the dramas of the old regime. Now he was nothing and nobody, except the complete fool that had let the love of his life walk out, not just the door, but the entire land. The world she knew had Alice back now and she was where she belonged. It ought to be some comfort to Hatter that she would be happy now, and yet it eased his pain very little.

Reaching for a bottle, he found it empty. All the bottles were empty, taunting Hatter, reminding him of his life and his heart. The fist he used to defend himself, to defend Alice when she needed it, now shattered glass at every turn. The bottles, the shelves, the table top, all shards around his feet in moments. Blood ran unchecked from every knuckle, and Hatter couldn’t feel a thing.

“You really are an idiot. You know that, don’t you?”

Hatter almost laughed when he considered how foolish it was to be talking to himself, before realising at the last his mouth was still firmly closed. The voice was not his own at all, but he recognised it. Before he ever turned around, he had realised who owned it, but wished he didn’t.

“Your highness,” he said shortly, turning on one heel in a single fluid movement and bowing too deeply before the new King of Wonderland.

Jack Heart rolled his eyes at the ridiculous display, waiting impatiently until it was over. He couldn’t exactly blame the foolish Hatter for his drunken state. Losing Alice had been hard on Jack but at least he’d had his chance and made the most of it. Hatter never really even got that. When he had been given the slimmest of chances, he didn’t even seem to notice.

The king had been preoccupied with his new duties, but Wonderland was not the largest of kingdoms. The key players in the battle that brought about his mother’s downfall were all of interest to Jack and he kept his eyes and ears open. He had his suits, the men now loyal to their good king instead of an evil queen, keeping tabs. Caterpillar, Dodo, these key members of the resistance movement would help Jack to create and rule a better version of Wonderland than there had ever been before, but he wondered about Hatter’s place.

“You don’t belong here, you know?” he said, looking down his nose.

Hatter laughed. A hollow painful sound, almost maniacal in nature. Jack didn’t flinch, waved a hand at the suits who stepped forward should their king require protection. Mad the hatter may be at this point, but not dangerous, he was certain of that.

“Look, I’m here to help you, but I don’t have all day,” said Jack.

Hatter’s laughter stopped immediately as he looked up, hands still on his knees from where he had been bent double with fits of giggles.

“Help me?” he checked he had heard correctly. “The King of all Wonderland...” he said, standing straight, bringing his arms wide to encircle the whole kingdom apparently. “The wonderful Jack Heart wants to help _me_?”

“Not really, no,” he shook his head, “but in the circumstances, I will. For Alice.”

That got Hatter’s attention more than anything ever could. Alice. Not the Alice of legend, but his Alice, the girl in the very wet dress who had become his friend, his confidante, and then... and then his everything. In his mind’s eye he saw her stood by the looking glass, the final second before she was gone forever. It still hurt, like a knife in the gut, and he couldn’t see it changing any time soon.

“Look, are you going to act like a person and actually listen to me?” said Jack, grabbing Hatter by the shoulders and making him pay attention. “Time will run out on us if we don’t act now.”

Hatter smirked.

“Here we run as fast as we can, just to stay in place,” he said.

Jack’s look matched Hatter’s own in that moment when he replied;

“If you wish to go anywhere, you must run twice as fast as that.”

* * *

Hatter couldn’t breathe. Standing here, not ten feet from the looking glass, he remembered hearing the operative tell Alice that was all she had to do, force herself to breathe, but he wondered how he ever would when the moment came for him. He felt ridiculous, and like his head was about to explode with all the information that had been crammed into it. Jack knew so much about Alice’s world, and he felt Hatter needed to know everything if he was going there. After all, this was a one way trip, at least that was the plan. No more Wonderland, no turning back. Swallowing hard, Hatter tried to breathe again. He felt sick.

“Are you ready?” asked Jack somewhere behind him.

Hatter was surprised he heard, even more stunned he could give an answer.

“Yes. Obviously,” he forced out.

This was for Alice. The new clothes, the flattened out hair, and every bit of knowledge making his head feel so big that his hat wouldn’t fit. His new hat, that was. Everything was so different, and it was only going to get more so. This was literally going to be a whole new world, but Alice was there. That brought a smile to Hatter’s lips at least, a feint, nervous one but still.

Jack meant to say more but the words stuck in his throat. It wasn’t really Hatter’s fault that Alice had chosen him. She had to love the idiot, and deeply too. Jack had offered her the chance to be a queen and rule the land at his side. Alice had not only refused because home was calling. Jack saw the way she looked at Hatter, the way she held on as long as she could before she said goodbye. These two were destined, and now the time was at hand.

“Count of three and then just...?” said Hatter making a vague gesture with his hand towards the glass.

“If you must,” Jack agreed, standing closer now. “I’m sure I don’t need to say this but if you don’t love her as she deserves, be the man she needs you to be...”

“You’ll have me hunted down and off with my head,” stated Hatter, matter of factly, looking sideways at the king. “Don’t worry. Loving Alice was never the problem,” he assured him, before swallowing hard and turning his eyes back to the shimmering mirror before him. “Everything else in that place might be.”

“You’ll be fine,” said Jack with a smirk he couldn’t help. “Just breathe,” he told Hatter just what the operative had said to Alice, giving him too much of a shove then.

The floor went out from under him, though Hatter didn’t make a sound. Shock and fear stole his voice away as he plummeted through non-space, everything a brightly coloured blur to the point where he just couldn’t stand it a second longer, and then it was over.

The ground was solid when he hit it, but not as hard as he feared. Hatter got himself up onto his feet, dusted off his new clothes. Here he was, in Alice’s world. It looked strangely normal for the moment, brick walls and stone floor, just like parts of Wonderland. Glancing back over his shoulder he saw the looking glass shimmer and flash, and then it was solid again. The ring had been removed, the system powered down. Hatter was here now, forever.

“Keep your head,” he said to himself, turning his hat around in his hands a moment before deciding to place it just exactly where it belonged. “Stick to the plan,” he muttered as he strode out of the alley.

For all that he had not trusted Jack Hart before, he had to now. He was king of all Wonderland, and in the last three weeks had done more to try and restore order and justice to the place than anyone ever could’ve imagined. No-one knew the exact fate of the old Queen of Hearts, but she certainly hadn’t seen the light of day since the Stone of Wonderland was taken from her by Alice. The new king did seem to be as good as his word so far, and Hatter was just going to have to trust that the information he had from him was correct. There was no second choice.

* * *

It was strange to realise that Jack had been completely right about the time difference here. Though three weeks had passed in Wonderland since Alice came back through the looking glass, for her it would be not even a day. Hatter might be confused by that if he were not too busy being confused by everything else. Strange vehicles, lights that flashed red and green to tell them when to stop and go. The clothes the Oysters wore, the shops full of unidentifiable things, and the noise! Hatter wouldn’t wonder at being deaf before he got to where he was going.

Still, all in the pursuit of Alice, it was worth it. Now his only fear was that she wouldn’t be pleased to see him. Jack seemed pretty determined that she was as much in love as Hatter was. He had to wonder himself. After all, what was he really? A former tea shop owner from Wonderland, who had played both sides of the court too long. Sure, he’d been in the right place at the right time come the revolution, but now? Now he had nothing to offer, especially not in this place. What you saw was what you got with Hatter, more now than ever. There was nothing to say Alice would really want him to stick around, and yet there was no way back.

Hatter reached into his pocket, pulled out the most important information he had been given by Jack and his flunkies. That had assessed the situation. Alice had been found in the alley by a construction worker named David. Such a name Hatter must now adopt, since apparently in was necessary to have two in this world. Henceforth, he was David Hatter, and he carried documents to say so, manufactured in Wonderland from copies the king’s suits had retrieved. They would pass muster, Jack assured him. Hatter couldn’t care right now. He followed the map in his hand to the address he was given. This building was where Alice lived. His Alice.

At her door, he faltered. Mrs Hamilton sounded nice, looked friendly at least, but Hatter couldn’t focus.

“Alice! Come meet David!” she called down the hall, smiling politely at Hatter.

He took off his hat as a last minute thought, turning it around and around in his hands like a nervous habit. Mrs Hamilton eyed him curiously, but didn’t say anything else. There were footsteps in the hall and then there she was, Alice just as he remembered her, which of course he ought to have expected. Still, she was a sight for sore eyes to Hatter who had been parted from Alice much longer than she could know.

“Hatter!”

Her name from her lips was the best sound in the world, and then she was there in his arms, hugging him tightly like she never wanted to let go. Hatter hoped so much that were true. This was all he could ever want, and things were as they should be at last.

“Finally,” he whispered into her hair.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” she told him giddily.

He wanted to tell her he definitely did have an idea, because no-one could be happier in this moment than Hatter himself. When she pulled back to look at him, smiling, so happy to have him here apparently, he couldn’t resist it any longer. When Hatter kissed Alice, the word fell away, even more so than when he took his trip through the looking glass and landed here. The rush was certainly much more intense.

“I missed you,” he confessed between kisses.

It was glory to hear the words echoed back, as she pushed herself further into his arms again. Both were wondering why they waited so long, why they’d been so foolish as to think they could ever live in separate worlds without each other.

“Um, excuse me?” said a voice then, bringing both Alice and Hatter back to reality with a bump.

They turned as one to look at Mrs Hamilton, her mouth working like a landed fish, with not a sound coming out now. This made no sense to her apparently. Hatter realised Alice must not have mentioned Wonderland at all to the poor woman, perhaps because there hadn’t been the time or because it would sound just too outlandish to the older Oyster to take in. Either way it seemed she was going to have to be told now.

“Mom,” said Alice carefully. “I, er... This is Hatter. I met him a few days ago, or yesterday, I guess...” she frowned, trying to work out how to tell this story in the simplest terms, but the time difference alone was not conducive to easy explanation.

“You might want to sit down, Mrs H,” said Hatter with his most winning smile. “Me and Alice, we’ve got kind of a long story to tell...”


	2. Part 2 of 5

Alice never saw her mom look so shocked. She’d seen her very upset, very angry, and yes, genuinely astounded the day Dad left. Still, she never wore an expression like this before. Alice wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say next. She had deliberately not mentioned the name of the place she had been too, or made any reference to the book from her childhood. That might sound a little too over-the-top, in such a way as to maker her mother start wanting to check her room for drugs, or call a health professional. Now, even talk of portals and magic mirrors seemed to be a little too much.

Hatter was quiet. It was strange, Alice never thought of him as being able to be so silent and still. He always seemed to be in the middle of something, be it a fight, a conversation or a deal. His mind worked faster than people gave him credit for, and yet throughout her whole explanation to her mom, he had said very little.

Alice let her eyes drift back to her mother, searching her face for a reaction other than shock. Eventually, Carol found her voice.

“You... you were gone for days?” she asked, blinking too many times.

“For me, yeah,” Alice nodded slowly. “I met Hatter, and I found out the truth about Jack...”

“That he’s the Queen of Hearts son?” her mother checked she understood, her hand going to her spinning head even as Alice confirmed she was right.

This was a lot to take in, an awful lot. It didn’t make any logical sense, but then in fairness to Alice, she had said it probably wouldn’t when she began explaining. Like something out of a fairytale, it did start to occur to Carol that this was all very much like Alice Through the Looking Glass, a book she had read many times before, more specifically to her daughter.

“Er, did you want me to get you an anything?” asked Hatter awkwardly. “Nice cup of tea?”

Alice bit her lip and wouldn’t look at him. He was trying to be helpful and kind, she knew, but the sudden realisation that she was effectively in love with The Mad Hatter who was now offering tea to her mom, it was just too bizarre. Her humour disappeared in an instant as tears welled in her mother’s eyes.

“Mom, please, don’t cry,” Alice urged her, leaning forward in her seat to grasp her hands. “I know it’s a lot to take in...”

“Yes. It really is,” she replied, patting Alice’s hand on hers. “But it’s okay,” she assured her then.

Alice looked slightly taken aback by that. She expected her mother to struggle more than this with such a tale and yet she seemed to be getting over the shock already. Of course, Alice had not spoken of her father’s demise yet and really didn’t want to have to if it could be avoided. She had said that Dad was gone when she came around in the hospital, and wondered if by now her mother had put together what she had meant from the rest of this story.

“Are you sure...?” Alice began to ask, searching her mother’s face for some sign of anger or panic, but she found none.

There was a look of almost relief in Carol’s eyes, and there was one simple reason for that. She was entirely relieved to hear her daughter’s words. It made sense of so much. When she got up to walk away, neither Alice nor Hatter were sure if it was a good thing or not. They shared a look of confusion, and then both found a smile as he squeezed her hand.

Hatter loved that when they sat down to explain their story, Alice grabbed his hand and had yet to let it go. If he had his way, this was how it would be forever, however stupidly sentimental that sounded.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” she told him with a giddy kind of a smile. “You... You gave up your whole life for me.”

“Wasn’t much of a life,” he shrugged, looking awkward, maybe even embarrassed. “’Specially not after you left. See, I knew then what I was missing, and... well, I wanted it back.”

Alice leaned in as if to kiss him, and yet the moment was broken by her mother’s footsteps startling the pair of them. Carol returned to her seat and opened up an oversized shoebox she had fetched from her room. Alice watched in wonder as suddenly out came a photo album, and when her mom was quite done flicking through the pages, she turned it around to show Alice a portrait of a little girl. She was blonde and pretty, all of ten years old perhaps. Alice was sure she had never seen the child before, and yet somehow, she was eerily familiar.

“My great grandmother,” said Carol with a dreamy smile. “Her name was Alice too, you know,” she explained, her eyes drifting to Hatter.

His own expression had shifted now. He knew this girl, or rather he knew of her. It made sense and Hatter knew it. Alice of Legend, as she was known in Wonderland, this picture showed her plain as day, though in sketchy world-worn sepia. She and his own Alice were related, down through the generations. The stories passed down from all the Hatters in his line had spoken of this event occurring one day, but he never really believed. Now it had come to pass.

“Fate and destiny then,” he said, looking towards Carol.

“So it would seem,” she replied, as Alice looked between them.

This was a lot for her to take in. As if her own adventures in Wonderland were not enough for her mind to handle. Losing her father, discovering the truth of Jack, becoming a hero. She had come home, thinking her mission was done and her life would return to normal, but normal wouldn’t cut it anymore. She realised it within hours, and then Hatter had arrived on her doorstep. Perhaps they were always supposed to meet, to end up together like this. It was planned from the start, from the day when the original Alice, the one of the legends Charlie spoke of so often, had stepped through the looking glass into Wonderland.

“The stories are real,” she said, a statement not a question as she stared at Hatter. “She was real, and I... I was supposed to come through the mirror?”

“And save us all,” he nodded easily as he finished her thought aloud. “And there was me thinking you were just a girl in a very wet dress,” he joked, causing Alice to laugh much more loudly than she meant to.

Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she chuckled. This was crazy, beyond crazy. Still, Alice had come to redefine the word since she first tripped into a whole other world that she never thought she would be able to explain. Now it seemed the truth was out, and her mother thought it was all perfectly acceptable that she fought Jabberwockys and defeated the Queen of Hearts in a few days that were actually only an hour or so in this world. She seemed okay with the fact Hatter was here and that Alice felt so much for him after so short a time. It made sense to Carol as it did to Alice, even though the sense of it was nonsensical itself.

Hatter wasn’t really sure what to think. Ratty had alluded to his Alice being the Alice, but he knew that couldn’t be true. The way time worked, the way Oysters aged and died, it would’ve been impossible. Still, he had known for sure that this Alice was special, to him and to Wonderland. Such had proven to be true, in more ways than he ever could have expected. Even Hatter hadn’t expected to fall in love, and he certainly hadn’t expected Alice’s mother to understand their unlikely tale like this, even going so far as to fill in the gaps with her own explanation.

The phone ringing seemed to bring reality back to a mad situation. Carol excused herself to take the call, leaving Alice and Hatter alone.

“I can’t believe it,” she said honestly as she stared down at the photo album on the table. “I mean, I knew my Mom’s family came from England, but even when I realised Wonderland was real, I never thought... The book is all true?”

“More or less, I s’pose,” Hatter shrugged. “All I knew for sure was that you were Alice, and you were gorgeous, and you wouldn’t stand for any nonsense. So I fought your corner until the house of cards literally came crashing down. After you were gone... Got a bit lonely to be honest,” he admitted, looking down.

“I missed you too,” she smiled, trying to meet his eyes. “I know it was only a few hours but the idea of never seeing you again? It hurt.”

That made Hatter smile too. He had three weeks or more to miss his Alice, and she was that much more worth the missing, he supposed. To think that she had wished for him already, in the space of barely a day, it made his heart soar. This might have been a perfect moment to kiss her again, if Carol hadn’t suddenly rushed back into the room to interrupt.

“That was work,” she explained. “Honey, I told them I wouldn’t be in today since you needed me, but now that David is here...”

“It’s fine, Mom, you can go,” Alice assured her.

Honestly, she was more than a little glad to know she and Hatter would be alone. Having her mom understand everything without thinking she was insane, that was a definite advantage. Still, alone time with a man she waited almost too long to decide was her destiny, that did genuinely appeal.

Carol apologised twice for abandoning them, as she grabbed up her coat and purse. Hatter’s hand finally slid from Alice’s grip as she got up to walk with her mother to the door. She reached out to put her arm around her and hug her tight. They still hadn’t talked about Carpenter, Hatter realised, and that was going to be hard for the both of them. In the meantime, it seemed he and Alice had the place to themselves.

“So,” she said, leaning back on the door she just closed behind her mother. “Here we are in my world.”

“Well, you did say if I tried it, I might like it,” he smirked, getting up to walk over to her. “So far, it’s not bad,” he shrugged.

“Didn’t you say something about wanting to do pizza?” she checked, even as his arms slid around her waist and pulled her closer.

They both knew food was the last thing on his mind right now. It wasn’t exactly top of Alice’s list of priorities either. All this was made entirely obvious as her arms wound around his neck and his lips found hers.

To think they had gone through so many life and death situations, watching each others back for days that felt like forever, and then parted like awkward friends. Alice could never fully understand why she walked away from Hatter so easily or why he let her go. Now he was here, she couldn’t be happier. For as long as he was kissing her, she didn’t care about anything else.

Later there would be questions and explanations, probably that pizza that was doubtless to become a running joke yet. In the meantime, there was each other, and nothing else to care about. It really didn’t matter if this were her world or his right now, since it had all but faded away for as long as this moment lasted.


	3. Part 3 of 5

Alice couldn’t sleep. She honestly wasn’t sure which of the reasons why was the most important. Lying here thinking of everything she had been through the past few days, that didn’t even count as time here, it was enough to keep anyone from sleeping. The latest revelation that she was related to the Alice who went to Wonderland so many years ago, that was a whole other level of shocking. Then there was Hatter.

The arrival of her friend from the other side of the looking glass was the very nicest of surprises. Alice couldn’t believe how stupid she had been in leaving him behind. She should have tried that much harder to convince him coming to her world was the right thing for him. Still, she knew why she hadn’t. It would’ve been wrong to presume to make such a life-altering decision for him, no matter how much it hurt to leave him behind. Jack asked her to stay and she couldn’t, the same would have been true if Hatter asked her the same question, and yet it would’ve required much more thought before she answered, Alice knew.

None of that mattered now. Hatter was here, not just in her world, but in her apartment. Alice was feeling a little strange about him sleeping in the next room on the couch. Her Mom had been fine with it, knowing her daughter as she did. The young people were still old enough to do whatever they wanted really, but at the same time Carol trusted that Alice was not the kind of girl to just fall into bed with a guy. That didn’t mean Alice wasn’t entirely tempted right now. She blushed at the very thought, but Hatter really was a good kisser. Alice couldn’t help but consider going to join him on the couch, especially since she couldn’t sleep anyway.

In silence, she hopped out of bed and crept out of her room. Past her mother’s room, Carol never stirred at all. Alice tip-toed into the living room, and stopped when she saw Hatter. He was sleeping peacefully it seemed, looking as handsome as he ever had. It seemed a shame to wake him actually, even if it was for something entirely pleasant. It was so amazing to her still that he was here, that he cared so much about her, that he gave up his whole life to be with her, because he said it was no life at all without her in it.

It never did cross Alice’s mind that this thing might not work out with them. No relationship was guaranteed and if they did break up, Hatter would be alone in a world he knew little of, with no way to go back. He didn’t seem phased by that and Alice wasn’t either. Somehow she just knew this was it, this was her guy, who she was supposed to do with. It sounded corny and dumb, she was well aware of that, even as the thought passed through her head. Considering her ancestor was part of a real life fairytale, maybe it wasn’t so crazy to believe in happily ever afters.

Just as Alice was trying to decide if it was okay to wake Hatter up or better that she just go straight back to bed, he moved. She wondered if he was waking by himself, if he had heard her moving or felt her watching over him. Alice realised her mistake when Hatter twitched and writhed again, muttering under his breath.

“Crumbs in the butter... there’s crumbs... and a raven, like a writing desk... why? Why are the crocodiles scales like... like crumbs in the butter?!”

It was all nonsense and making him all the more agitated by the second. Alice guessed it was some kind of nightmare disturbing him and had a mind to stop it before it got worse. Careful of his flailing arms, she approached Hatter and reached out to shake his shoulder.

“Hatter! C’mon, it’s just a dream,” she told him, shaking harder. “Hatter, wake up!” she tried just a little louder, mindful of waking her mother too.

It was only thanks to Alice’s own quick reactions and self defence skills that she avoided the fist that came flying then. She ducked and evaded, but the momentum of the movement caused Hatter to fling himself completely off the couch, landing on the hard floor with a thud. It was a miracle Carol didn’t come running, though neither Alice or Hatter could consider that right now anyway.

“Hey,” she said as she looked down at him. “Are you okay?”

Hatter frowned hard, staring up from the floor at his Alice. No, he really wasn’t okay. He realised he had been dreaming and shuddered at the memory of all the pictures that’d danced through his head. Some were real, some embellished, others entirely invented in his own mind. None of it was pleasant, and he panicked when he looked left and right, realising what had happened right before he woke.

“I could’ve... Did I hurt you?” he checked.

She smiled at his concern, reaching for his hands to help pull him up off his back.

“No,” she promised. “I’m fine. Self defence trainer, remember?” she reminded him as she got him to sit back down on the couch and then joined him there. “Are you hurt?” she checked.

Hatter rubbed the back of his neck, worked a knot out of his shoulder, and shook his head.

“I’m fine,” he told her, though it wasn’t convincing.

Maybe he wasn’t physically injured from his minor tumble, but something was wrong. Everybody had bad dreams, Alice knew. Sometimes they meant something and sometimes they didn’t. The look on Hatter’s face, the way his shoulders were tensed up and he wouldn’t even look at her, it all proved that this was about more than just a dream.

“Please talk to me,” she urged him. “I know there’s something’s bothering you...”

“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does!” he snapped without thinking, immediately running a hand over his face and looking more calm. “I’m sorry.”

The last thing he wanted to do was be awful to Alice. She was trying to help, and none of this was her fault, not at all. It was his own messed up life, his own messed up head. He couldn’t even get a good night’s sleep anymore, and explaining why... Hatter dreaded what Alice’s reaction would be to that.

“It’s okay,” she promised him, putting her arms around him, kissing his cheek. “Whatever’s wrong, I wish you’d tell me. I want to help.”

“Nothing much you can do, Alice,” he told her gently, gratefully leaning into her embrace. “You remember when we went looking for Jack and... and we first saw Mad March?” he asked her.

Alice was frowning at the random reference, but nodded none the less.

“I, er... I used to know him,” Hatter started to explain, almost laughing at how ridiculous he was sure this sounded to her. “When we were kids we were best friends, practically brothers. We got into all sorts of scrapes, but it never mattered. He had my back, I had his. Our parents called us a right pair of tearaways but... but me and Marchy, we never cared.”

He was smiling at the memories but his expression and tone both bore a bittersweet edge. Alice didn’t wonder as to why. The Mad March she had seen and heard of, he was a psychotic killer with a ceramic face that was burned into her memory. Once he was a man, just like Hatter, a brother when they were children, and yet they had ended like this, as enemies. One so good and one so evil. It was enough to break a person’s heart, Alice thought, especially if that person was Hatter.

“What happened to him?” she asked, hoping it was going to help for him to talk about it and not just make matters worse.

Hatter shifted a little in his seat, took a deep breath like even saying the words was painful. Still, he seemed to want her to know, and Alice was glad about that, no matter what frightening awful things she might be about to hear.

“The world changed,” he said softly. “The Queen of Hearts grip tightened, more and more Oysters brought over... At first, nobody realised what damage those little pearls from inside you people could do,” he smiled sadly at Alice in the darkness of the room. “March and me, we tried some of the simple emotions, a bit of happiness, a cheap thrill... but the after-effects weren’t worth it,” he shook his head. “Our people aren’t built to withstand those kind of emotions, but March, he got hooked. No thrill was ever big enough, nothing ever lasted as long as he needed. He got addicted,” he shrugged.

Alice could make sense of what he was saying, even if it did seem strange. The addictions people developed to human emotions in Wonderland, it was much like drug addiction here in her world. Caterpillar had shown her the damage it could do at the Hospital of Dreams. She didn’t dare wonder too much on what a longing for thrills and strong positive emotions had done to March for him to end up the way he had. She didn’t have to ask as Hatter soon continued his story.

“One day March comes to me, he says he’s got this plan to set up a tea shop. I told him he was mad. ‘Gonna start calling you Mad March’ I said, laughing like it was a joke, even though I knew it wasn’t funny anymore,” he sighed heavily. “Part of me hoped if we started the shop, if March saw what that stuff did to other people, dealt with it all day, every day, he’d get bored, he’d... he’d grow out of the addiction or something,” he said, putting a hand to his head. “I was so stupid!”

“You were young, and he had a big problem,” Alice sympathised, hugging him tighter. “You tried to help. I know you would’ve done everything you could to...”

“Did I?” he interrupted, trying not to snap but feeling so frustrated with himself, it was hard not to take it out on poor Alice. “If I’d done everything I could, he wouldn’t... he wouldn’t have become the Queen’s puppet. So far gone that even I couldn’t bring him back.”

Alice felt so bad for Hatter and yet there was nothing she could really do to help. Mad March had become what he was because of his own stupid actions. Hatter tried to stop him, she had no doubts at all that he did everything he could for his brother back then, just as he had done everything to help her when she needed him.

“You wouldn’t be this upset or feel this bad if you weren’t such a good person,” she whispered, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Hatter, you’re a good man. I know you did everything you could.”

“In the end, I did,” he said so softly she almost didn’t hear.

When Hatter turned his head then, face almost touching hers, Alice was amazed to see tears shimmering in his eyes. She pulled back just a little to see if she was mistaken, but no. Hatter was as close to crying as he ever saw him, and it scared her just a little. He was always so strong, even when she herself was falling apart.

“When he died, I thought it was a blessing. Put him out his misery, saved him from whatever else he might end up doing,” Hatter explained, voice cracking with emotions held in far too long. “Seeing what they did to him to bring him back, hearing him taunt me in that room, I... I snapped,” he admitted, tears rolling down his cheeks unchecked. “It wasn’t just about escaping. It wasn’t even just about you, it... I wanted to save him too. I wanted it to be over for him.”

Alice couldn’t speak, she couldn’t even breathe as she started crying too. She knew now what he was saying, what was causing him such pain and actual nightmares too. Still, she allowed him to say the words, because she knew that was what Hatter really needed to do.

“I killed him, Alice,” he cried then. “I pulled back my fist and... and the china smashed and... he was gone, for good this time.”

He fell into her arms sobbing like a child, and Alice just held on tight. She wanted to tell him it was okay, but the words would barely come through her own tears. It was bad enough for her, having her father deny her, then remember just as the moment of his death came. Hatter had to bring about the demise of his own childhood friend, his brother in all but blood. Though it was for the good of everyone, and the real March was all but gone by then anyway, of course it would hurt. The tears soaking through the shoulder of her T-shirt proved it for Alice, as she held Hatter tightly still and rocked him in her arms.

“You did what you had to do,” she told him when eventually her voice came back to her. “You didn’t have a choice.”

“I loved him, Alice,” he confessed, sniffling loudly. “I wanted to save him but... but I didn’t know how.”

“Hey,” she said then, moving to take his face in her hands. “Now you listen to me. Hatter, you did save him,” she promised faithfully. “That thing you killed, it wasn’t really March, okay? He wasn’t the boy you grew up with or the man you knew before. You stopped him from having to live like that. You did a good thing.”

He nodded that he understood, but it didn’t stop it from hurting. Hatter felt so alone after he lost his family and March. Alice became his new destiny, his reason to go on and to fight. She was all that he loved now and all that he needed. The fact she could still look at him like this when he had confessed the worst thing he felt he had ever done, it meant the absolute world to Hatter.

“I love you, Alice,” he told her, without even thinking about what it meant or what the consequences might be.

Alice herself was a little overwhelmed. After the confession of his past, what had happened with March, and now this, it was enough to bowl a person over. It was a surprise to Alice how fast the shock of it all subsided, how quickly she was able to reply with a completely sincere heart.

“I love you too,” she promised with a shaky smile, as she kissed his lips.

They held onto each other tightly, and didn’t let up for the rest of the night. They fell asleep in a tangle of limbs and blankets on the couch that barely fit the two of them.

In the morning, Carol would find them like this and wonder how sensible she had really been in letting Hatter stay. Within moments she would smile and shake her head as she turned away. Young love was too beautiful to be denied, and there was no doubt in her mind that Alice and David belonged together. You only had to look at them to see how perfectly matched they were.


	4. Part 4 of 5

Introducing Hatter to her world really did go almost as smoothly as Alice hoped. The fundamentals were the same. The people of Wonderland mostly looked like human beings, and so the people here were not so very shocking. The cars intrigued Hatter. When you came from world of horses, boats, and flying flamingos, Alice supposed they were intriguing vehicles. All the time they were walking around the city, with her pointing out the sights to him, Hatter just kept staring at the cars, commenting on the colours and shapes. Alice had the strangest feeling that just as soon as he had the means he would want some flashy sports car or similar. The idea of it gave her the giggles.

“Y’know you have to have a licence to drive a car here,” she explained to him, as they continued down the street hand-in-hand.

“Ah, now that I might already have covered,” he grinned back at her, pulling a wallet from his back pocket and handing it to her. “Good old King Jack said those were all the documents I’d need for this world, as far as he knew anyway.”

Alice stopped walking and let go of Hatter’s hand. She was mindful of them being in public view as she thumbed through the contents of his wallet, ever more worried when she realised there was an impressive bundle of cash inside. She pulled Hatter with her into the mouth of the nearest alley and continued to look. Lo and behold, there was a birth certificate, a driver’s licence, even a passport that proclaimed Hatter to be dual heritage - British and American. Then there was the money, at least five hundred dollars in cash, and a debit card for a bank account too.

“How did... How did Jack do all this?” she asked, staring at the picture on the driver’s licence a moment longer then up to meet the eyes of Hatter himself.

“He’s got contacts here,” her boyfriend shrugged. “I didn’t ask too many questions, Alice, I was just grateful for the help to get here. You know how much I missed you.”

There was such sincerity when he spoke. Alice never wondered for a moment if Hatter was playing her or anything, not even back in Wonderland. She put a level of trust in him from the get go and that had only increased over time. Maybe that made her a fool in some way, but so far he hadn’t let her down, not once.

“I do,” she nodded as she handed back his wallet, complete with all its cards and papers, and encouraged him to put it away out of sight.

They continued on walking, headed nowhere in particular right now. Alice’s hand slid easily back into Hatter’s own as they went. It just felt like the most natural thing in the world, even though she never really thought of herself as the hand-holding type before. A lot of things about Alice had changed in the past few days, and she didn’t regret a single one of them.

Hatter stopped walking so suddenly, and without warning, he nearly pulled Alice over as she attempted to keep walking. Turning suddenly, she stared at him oddly a moment, then followed his own gaze to the restaurant they were now stood in front of. The sign above the door proclaimed ‘Mario’s Pizzeria’. Alice was smiling when she met Hatter’s eyes then and found his expression to be exactly the same.

“Shall we then?” he asked, taking off his hat and practically bowing as he ushered her towards the door.

“We shall then,” Alice agreed as she stepped inside.

Honestly, it probably wasn’t the nicest restaurant she ever visited, and the food probably wouldn’t be all that great, but that didn’t matter. This was symbolic for Alice and Hatter. Besides it had been a long time since breakfast, and that had been awkward at best.

Alice had woken to realise she and Hatter had fallen asleep on the couch together. As she opened her eyes, she found her mother stood by the door watching them, and immediately blushed a rosy red. They were all adults here, and she was almost certain her mom wasn’t judging, but it didn’t make her any the less embarrassed. Surely anyone would be when caught practically in bed with their boyfriend by their mother of all people. Nothing was said, but after an elbow in the ribs, Hatter came to as well and looked equally as awkward about the whole situation. Alice had never seen him look so oddly nervous as he was right then. Clearly her mother was way more scary than Suits and assassins. That just made her smile, knowing that their relationship clearly meant more to him than anything. As if he hadn’t proven it already, he had given up his whole life, his whole world to be with Alice. She was still reeling from that even now.

“What?” asked Hatter when he caught her staring intently at him from across the table.

Mozzarella was dangling unnoticed from his chin, and his mouth was pretty much full of pizza. It ought to be gross, but Alice couldn’t help thinking how cute he was, even in this moment.

“C’mere,” she said, leaning across, paper napkin in hand to help clean him up.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, feeling dumb, making a big deal of wiping his own face even when she’d already done it.

“So, what do you think of pizza?” she asked then, contemplating her own slice before taking another bite - it was actually pretty good considering the state of the eatery.

“Not bad actually,” Hatter considered. “I mean, it’s no barbecued borogove, and the chef is no White Knight, but yeah, I have a feeling I could get used to this,” he smiled.

Alice had a feeling they weren’t just talking about pizza anymore.

* * *

It was getting late in the day and Alice felt like she and Hatter must have walked miles, but she hadn’t a mind to care. Their adventures in Wonderland had proved to her that she was capable of so much more than she ever realised. Walking around the city she knew best was nothing compared to scaling buildings, fighting Jabberwockys, and bringing down a crooked monarchy. Hatter didn’t seem at all concerned about the late hour or the fact he had no idea where he was. He had to trust her and love her just as much as he said to be here like this. That created a warm glow inside of Alice that she never knew until she met Hatter.

“One last stop, then we should head home,” she noted as they came to a halt on the sidewalk.

“Here?” asked Hatter, turning left and right to look, failing to see anything impressive.

“Not exactly here,” Alice smirked, pulling on his hand as she headed into the nearest building.

The elevator was a surprise to Hatter.He had no idea that they made them so small in this world, or why they didn’t seem to go all that fast, though the braking system worked a lot better, he would confess. When they stepped out of the boxy little room, Hatter was amazed by the view.

“Here we are, the highest spot in town,” Alice smiled as she led Hatter out of the elevator and towards the huge glass windows.

The whole city was laid out at Hatter’s feet and it was overwhelming. The buildings were not so very different to Wonderland, but better kept and most people stuck to the ground rather than the heights he was well used to. It was then he remembered how Alice’s only fear in Wonderland had been that very thing, the precipice they seemed to be continually on, one way or another. She had brought him here in spite of that, to show him this view. That was more amazing to him than the outlook itself.

“You don’t mind being up here?” he checked, his hand at her shoulder, pulling her closer.

“No,” she shook her head definitely and smiled up at him a moment. “I know I told you I’m not great with heights, but this always felt okay, like I was stable, not going to fall,” she sighed as she looked back out of the window.

Her head dropped into Hatter’s shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her back.

“Besides, these days I know when I fall have someone to catch me. That makes a big difference.”

Hatter smiled at that, but didn’t say a word, just kissed the top of her head and looked out at the bustling town below their feet, this new world he must learn to be a part of somehow. It wasn’t so big an ask, when he already knew exactly where he belonged, and it was right here with Alice.

“Y’know, I could go all over the world, to any other world that comes along,” she smiled then. “I don’t think anything would look as beautiful as this view.”

“Agreed,” said Hatter softly.

Alice knew before she ever looked up that he wasn’t staring at the horizon when he said that. His eyes met hers, and then he was leaning down to kiss her breath away. It didn’t get better than this.

* * *

It was late when Alice and Hatter returned home. Carol asked them if they’d had a nice time seeing the sights and all. Hatter politely replied that it had been amazing and that he was now very tired and ready for bed. He and Alice made a huge point of parting company to their separate rooms, making her mother smile. When she followed Alice into her bedroom and closed the door, her daughter really wasn’t sure if she was suddenly going to get an anti-Hatter speech, or just the advanced refresher of the birds and the bees.

“I think we need to have a  talk” said Carol, fingers lacing and unlacing as she stood there by the bedroom door. “About your father.”

Alice really hadn’t seen that coming at all, and it must’ve showed on her face. For a second she was shocked, but immediately after that she was frowning with worry. She really wasn’t sure how Carol would take the news that she had seen her own father die in Wonderland. So far, her mother had been pretty cool with the concept of that place, but this was a whole other deal.

“When you came back, you said something, at the hospital,” Carol recalled as she and Alice sat down together on the edge of the bed. “You said your father was really gone…”

Her looks and tone were questioning though she hadn’t directly asked anything yet. Alice’s eyes went to the floor, tears forming as she even contemplated speaking of her father’s death. It was so fresh and raw. Even though she had closure now, the image of Dad falling to the ground before her, bleeding, dying, it would be forever burned into her mind.

“They took him away,” she forced out, her voice to soft to her own ears. “He was brain-washed, trapped… but in the end, he remembered me,” she smiled sadly as she looked up and met her mother’s eyes. “He remembered and he was sorry, and then… then he saved my life. He sacrificed himself... for me.”

Tears overcame her at the confession, the pain of loss ripping through her body in a way there just hadn’t been time for in the moment when it happened. Carol wrapped her arms around her daughter, as she had in the hospital, and allowed her to sob. There had been a brief bout of tears before, but this was far beyond a minor upset. Alice was grieving, letting out all her pain, and Carol joined her when she realised that what she had suspected for a while now was true.

It was some comfort to know that Robert hadn’t left them by choice, or stayed away on purpose. It was better knowing where he was, and that he was at peace now, but it still hurt to know he was gone.

In the next room, Hatter was sure he could hear crying and it tore at his heart. He had a good idea that the ladies of the Hamilton family had just discussed Carpenter’s demise, and he felt sick knowing they were in such pain because of his world. Hatter vowed there and then to help them through their struggle, his beautiful Alice and her dear mother too. They were his family now, as he would be theirs. It was time for them all to move forward from their losses and tragedy, start life anew in this world beyond Wonderland. He had no doubt that given time they would be just fine.


	5. Part 5 of 5

Alice ran through the last set of practise exercises with her class, smiling at their efforts and achievements. They had come on a lot in these last six months, learnt so much. Alice couldn’t help thinking she had leant just as much, though not about self defence. On the contrary she had learned lessons about letting down her defences just a little, enough to let someone into her life that she could truly trust and love.

“Okay, that’s good,” she said, snapping out of a momentary daze. “I’ve seen some real progress today, you should all be proud of yourselves. See you next week.” she smiled at her students, who dutifully thanked her and then filed out of the room.

Once alone, Alice stretched out her body, and performed a few moves of her own in the quiet empty space. Kicks and flips came second nature to her now, she didn’t even have to think about it. To anyone who didn’t know how, she supposed it might look impressive, a fact proven by the applause she suddenly heard from the door way.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked Hatter, hands on her hips as if she were mad at him, though her smile remained.

“Who me?” he asked, all innocence apparently. “Just long enough to be reminded what an extraordinary woman you are, Alice,” he assured her, as he came wandering into the room. “Y’know, I was wondering if you could teach me a few things later,” he asked with a playful grin. “In the privacy of our own home, of course.”

“You really want me to throw you across a room that badly?” she smirked, already figuring on where he was going with this before he ever put his arms around her and pulled her close.

“No, not really. I was more interested in the holds... if you catch my drift.”

“Always,” she assured him, right before he kissed her.

Her arms up around his neck held him close as the moment went on and the couple became lost in it. The first time he had showed up at her work, Alice had felt a little weird about it. The last day she and Jack had spent together in her world had involved  a pretty serious make out session on the very mats beneath her feet now. Still, time had moved on, the world was anew in her eyes. Jack felt like a lifetime ago, and Hatter was most definitely her present and her future.

“Mm-mm,” Alice made a vaguely muffled protest against Hatter’s lips, as his hand slipped inside her judo clothes. “Not the time or the place,” she told him, pulling away some. “We have dinner with my Mom in... barely an hour,” she noted, as she checked the clock over his shoulder.

“You’d be amazed what I can achieve in an hour.”

Alice felt an uncharacteristic blush rising in her cheeks at that comment, but she tried to force it down. She was sure she wouldn’t mind participating in what Hatter had in mind at all, she never had before, but right now she had to resist. She meant what she said about dinner with her mother being important and imminent. She needed to shower and change, pick up groceries if they wanted breakfast tomorrow, then get back home and make herself presentable. The daily tasks and usual things of life didn’t stop just because people were happy and in love! This she told Hatter, disappointing him of course, but not so very much. He would have Alice all to himself later tonight, and he really wouldn’t want to upset Carol after all she’d done for the two of them.

“Come on,” Alice urged Hatter when he seemed lost in thought. “We really have to go.”

“Y’know I can get you home twice as fast as you’d think,” he told her, making her stop at the door and turn back to look at him.

From his fingers he dangled a set of keys and she gasped at the sight of them.

“You passed your test?” she asked, looking astounded but genuinely pleased at the same time.

“Was there ever any doubt? I mean, really?” he rolled his eyes, then smiled as wide as anything as she rushed back into his arms and hugged him tight.

“I am so proud of you,” she assured him, kissing him hard.

Hatter was a little overcome, truth be told. He hadn’t realised how thrilled someone could be about driving. It really wasn’t all that complicated when you got right down to it. The fact was, Jack had furnished him with a licence when he came here but Alice didn’t like the idea of Hatter just going out and trying to drive - he could get himself killed! He took lessons, learnt fast, and now he had a genuine licence, and a car of his own, which he was eager to show to Alice. It wasn’t massively impressive, he was aware of that, but money was sort of a big deal in this world and Hatter didn’t have a lot of that to start off with. Still, Alice seemed pleased for him when she saw the beaten-up little blue car he could call his own. They wouldn’t even have this if not for Alice’s mother who seemed eager to help them as much as possible.

Together, Alice and Hatter headed home to their apartment. It was in the same block as Carol, partly because they wanted to be close to the woman the were both calling Mom these days (well, it was more like Mum with Hatter’s accent), and because it helped that they already knew the landlord and he liked them. Carol co-signed the lease, since they were kind of short on funds, but Alice and Hatter were gradually finding their own way.

David Hatter, as he was known here, was now an upstanding member of the community. He had a job in a nearby cafe, not exactly glamorous but it paid the bills. He and Alice together, it just worked. She shared in his enthusiasm to one day have his own place, a coffee shop maybe, something like that. Not quite like the tea shop back home, but then that was probably a good thing.

“I know that look,” said Hatter as he glanced away from the road a second. “Alice, that’s your serious look. What are you thinking?”

“Nothing really,” she shrugged, forcing a smile.

He knew she was faking and the look on his own face proved it as he pulled up to the kerb and faced her. There was no hiding things from someone who loved you this much, who was this smart too.

“I don’t know,” Alice sighed. “Things are just going so well right now. I guess... a part of me is just waiting for the next thing to go wrong. Is that crazy?”

“Nope, not crazy,” said Hatter, unclipping both their seat-belts and pulling her close. “Bit daft, maybe,” he smirked, “but not quite crazy yet,” he told her as he hugged her close.

She socked him in the shoulder for teasing her but laughed all the same. Once they started kissing, they might’ve got to christening the car, if not for the fact they were parked in the street in broad daylight! Besides, Carol would be expecting them before long and Alice’s reasons from before still stood - she had plenty to do yet before they went to dinner.

Thankfully Hatter managed to keep his distractions to a minimum after that and within the hour they made it to Carol’s apartment with five minutes to spare. There were hugs and kisses, talk of work and such. It was a real family dinner, something Hatter was gradually getting used to. It was so very long since he’d had people to love and to love him. He never did expect to find it with a couple of Oysters from beyond the looking glass, but now he couldn’t imagine going back to Wonderland, or wanting to be anywhere but here.

“Mom, are you okay?” asked Alice then.

Hatter looked across at Carol who was idly pushing the remains of her dessert around in the dish. She hadn’t eaten much tonight now that he thought about it, though the things she had cooked had been delicious, he knew that. She didn’t look ill or anything and she said she was fine, yet something was clearly up.

“I, er... I have something to tell you both,” she admitted with a nervous smile.

She put down her spoon, wiped her already spotless mouth with her napkin. Carol didn’t exactly know how to say this and yet she knew she had to. Alice looked scared stiff and Hatter’s hand found hers on the table, squeezing in some kind of comforting gesture.

“Come on, Mum,” he said to Carol then, forcing a smile. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad, right?”

“Oh, it’s not bad,” she assured them both. “I’m so sorry, scaring you like this, I just... I met someone,” she admitted at last. “A man that... that I like, a lot,” she smiled bravely.

This was a big deal and they all knew it. Hatter wanted to say congratulations to Carol and wish her well, but he worried for Alice. This meant a very definite moving on from her father, the only other man she had ever seen at her mother’s side.

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” he said carefully. “Alice?”

There were tears sparkling in her eyes as she looked his way suddenly, but she was smiling too. It was a shaky expression but genuine enough, Hatter was sure of that, and he was very pleased to see it.

“Yeah, it’s good. Great even,” she said, reaching her other hand out to grab onto Carol’s own. “I’m really happy for you, Mom. You deserve to be happy with someone.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she smiled. “His name is Charles.”

Hatter choked into his wine glass, immediately apologising for it. His brain had just pictured Charlie, the White Knight, right at that moment. The thought of that particular man paired up with anyone, never mind Alice’s mother, it was just too fun. Of course, there were plenty of people called Charles in the world, both this one and the one he left behind, but the brain did funny things sometimes.

“Maybe next time we have dinner like this, you could invite Charles,” said Alice to Carol then. “I’d love to meet him.”

It was obvious how much that meant to her mother.

“Thank you, Alice.”

* * *

It was late when Alice and Hatter got back up to their apartment, three floors above Carol’s own place. He had a hold of her hand and as they went in through the door she tried to let go - he didn’t let her.

“Hey,” he pulled her closer as he shut the door behind them. “Now it’s just you and me, you can tell me the truth. Are you really okay with your mum having a new bloke?” he asked her seriously.

Hatter didn’t do serious much, not since he arrived in Alice’s world. He was so happy to be with her as she was to be with him. Sure, they had ups and downs like everyone, but he kept upbeat pretty easily. Of course, Alice knew this was important. She also knew that lying to Hatter wouldn’t work even if she wanted to try it, which she didn’t.

“I’m okay,” she nodded slowly, smiling as his arms came up around her and held her close. “I mean, when we didn’t know where Dad was, I always hoped... but we know the truth now,” she said, swallowing hard as her voice wobbled with emotion. “He’s gone, and Mom deserves to be happy,” she smiled then. “As happy as I am with you.”

She kissed him then and Hatter was happy to let her. The fact she had him pretty much pinned to the back of the door didn’t worry him in the slightest. He believed what she said and he was glad. It was tough on her, losing her father the way she had, but that didn’t mean Carol didn’t deserve to live her life too. If both her and Alice could be happy in their lives, that was all Hatter could really want for them.

“Mmm,” Alice murmured against his lips. “Sometimes I still wonder if I’m going to wake up and this whole thing was a dream,” she confessed, fingers running through his hair.

“Nope, this is definitely reality,” he smiled, kissing her nose and grinning at her. “No dream could be as crazy as what we went through, or as happy as they are now.”

“You are happy, aren’t you, Hatter?” she checked then, leaning back a little and meeting his eyes. “You don’t miss Wonderland at all?”

“Hell, no!” he told her with a slightly manic giggle that made her laugh too. “Here with you,” he said then, serious again in a moment, “this is a whole new wonderland to me. Can’t imagine anywhere else I’d want to be,” he promised, voice barely a whisper by now as he leaned in closer and covered her lips with his own once more.

Somewhere amongst deep kisses and promises of love, they stumbled towards the bedroom. Alice pushed the door closed behind her, and fell into a moment that always did feel like a dream, but the best one she could ever conjure. Such was her life now, and she wouldn’t change it for the whole of Wonderland.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of that... Except, I kinda have a vague idea of another Alice fic, a year down the road, in which Alice & Hatter have a baby, and then the child is kidnapped and taken to Wonderland, where they must follow and save him/her... but I'm not sure yet. Comments? Thoughts? Opinions?


End file.
